1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to devices which aid in plant cultivation, and more particularly to a robotic cultivation system which utilizes computer vision.
2. Description of the Prior Art
One of the major issues concerning agricultural production in the United States is the current reliance on chemical cultural practices to maximize crop yields and minimize cost. It has been estimated that in 1984 sixteen billion dollars were spent world wide on pesticides. Approximately 50% of that amount was directly related to herbicide products. The United States is the largest pesticide user in the world and applies more than three times the quantity of pesticides as the number two country (Japan). Herbicides account for approximately 85% of the pesticides used in the United States.
Unfortunately the continued reliance on chemically based production practices has a detrimental effect upon the environment and human health. This detrimental effect takes the form of contamination of water, soils and food produced therefrom. In addition, the effect of chemical residues are often cumulative and their continued use may be increasingly detrimental to the environment. This problem is often compounded because fewer new herbicides are being released due to the increasing costs of development, testing, and registration. The long-term use of herbicides also has the potential for adversely affecting the growth and production of alternate crops grown in a rotation system.
Additionally, with the increasing political pressure to reduce the amount of chemicals used, farmers need an alternative to chemical weed control in order to remain competitive in the world market for agricultural products.
There is a need to develop alternate means of weed control in a reduced pesticide environment. Mechanical cultivation and hand hoeing, have been the primary alternatives to chemical treatment. However, hand labor costs continue to increase making hand hoeing prohibitively expensive in many cases. Thus, the only other viable solution is a mechanical system. Existing systems use either fixed (non-movable) tools or tools which are positioned based upon an indirect measurement of the crop's location. For example, this indirect measurement may be achieved from information such as bed edge or furrow bottom. This indirect method requires mechanical contact with the object being measured and therefore may physically alter the object being sensed. Such mechanical contact creates mechanical wear, and is slow to respond to changes in the sensed object. These mechanical systems have the further disadvantages of being costly, relatively slow, e.g. operating at 2-3 MPH, and restricted to daytime operations. Therefore a viable system which is fast, efficient and inexpensive is required.